Life-saving apparatus for use at sea



Oct. 11, 1960 s.- INGRAM, JR 2,955,299

I LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS FOR USE AT SEA Filed March 25, 1957 Fig.1.

mama? 620,42 4.: I/YGBAM, J e- LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS FOR USE AT SEAGeorge Ingram, Jr., Priory Dene, Arterial Road, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea,England Filed Mar 25, 1957, Ser. No. 648,242 Claims priority,application Great Britain Apr. 3, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 9-14) 'Thisinvention relates to improvements in escape and life-saving apparatusfor use at sea and has for its primary object to obviate the need forjumping from a sinking ship into the sea for the purpose of swimming toand clambering into a life-raft.

In-its broadest sense the invention comprises a flexible and collapsibleinflatable chute combined with an inflatable raft said chute beingprovided with means for attachment both to a deck structure of a shipand to the raft.

In order that the said invention may be readily understood an embodimentthereof will be described by way of example with the aid of theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective front diagrammatic view;

Figure 2 is a side diagrammatic view;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of one end of a chute, and

Figure 4 is a cross section on line IVIV of Figure 3.

In the drawings 1 depicts an inflated raft adapted at 2, 2 such as byeyed flaps, rings or other loops to be attached to a chute 3. The latterhas rope or cord lashings 4.

When not in use the raft 1 is deflated and rolled up with the chute 3,the whole being housed in a locker or otherwise stowed on deck of a shipindicated at 5, Figure 2, with one end of the chute attached to part ofthe locker or other deck structure. In use the raft 1 and chute 3 areinflated and, with the raft attached to one end of the chute 3, the raftis thrown overboard whereupon people can escape by sliding down thechute into the raft. The latter may be any suitable form of inflatableraft such as those constructed to be floated away and carry survivorsuntil picked up. Alternatively the raft is preferably a temporary orpreliminary landing platform which can form a focal point for largerrafts and lifeboats to draw against so as to pick up the people who havedisembarked by the chute. The rafts would also be able to use theplatform as an anchoring and mustering hub so as to keep them togetherand thus make it easier for United States Patent ice searching ships andaircraft to locate all survivors at once.

'In the embodiment illustrated the raft 1 has a peripheral inflatablebuoyancy chamber 6 with lifelines 7 and stabilising elements 8underneath and an inflatable floor. One or more inflation units of thecompressed gas type would be secured in position. This raft may becircular as shown or of any other suitable configuration. The chute maybe made of plastic material or other suitable strong flexible substanceimpervious to air and is made, of channel shape by the use of rigidtransverse ribs 9 spaced along its entire length. When out of use it canbe deflated and collapsed. At the point where it is at-' tached to theraft i.e. where the eyes or the like 2 are located there may be acushion or other shock absorber to augment the shook-absorbingproperties of the base of the raft.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the chute is made inflatable by means of aseries of elongated inflatable tubes 9a extending from end to end andlying together edge to edge. This will impart a degree of rigidity wheninflated for use combined with comfort, and render it buoyant should' itfall or be thrown into the sea.

The method of attaching the chute at each end may be by a lashing withrope or cord, or alternatively by means of quick-release spring clips.

I claim:

Escape and life-saving apparatus for use at sea com-, prising aninflatable raft of flexible material which, in its" defiated conditioncan be rolled up and stored in a compact space, a channel-sectionedinflatable chute of flexible material which, in its deflated condition,can be rolled up with said raft and stored therewith, said chute beingconnected at one end to said raft and comprising a plurality ofelongated inflatable tubes extending from end to end and lyingside-by-side relative to one another, andmeans at the other end of saidchute permitting said other end to be attached to a ship wherebylaunching of said raft from a ship and setting up of said chute can beeffected simply by inflating said raft and chute and throwing said raftoverboard.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS550,343 Greener Nov. 26, 1895 1,128,072 Steinmetz Feb. 9, 1915 1,130,528McGray Mar. 2, 1915 2,270,437 Herendeen J an. 20, 1942 2,765,131 BoyleOct. 2, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,127,362 France Dec. 14, 1956

